Senators John Thune (R-SD), Dick Durbin (D-IL) and a group of bipartisan Senators are asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to expand the renewable volume obligations. The senators are urging regulatory certainty for biofuels as EPA goes through its rulemaking process for the Renewable Fuel Standard .

The senators said in a letter to EPA, "In order to guard against sidelining decades of investment and the diverse workforce that supports biofuels, we request that EPA set the conventional target above 15 billion gallons, set advanced biofuel volumes that account for increased production capacity of fuels like sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel, and ensure that renewable identification numbers for emerging technologies and e-RINs are additive to existing volumes."

The senators' efforts are supported by the National Corn Growers Association, Growth Energy, Renewable Fuels Association, American Coalition for Ethanol and Clean Fuels Alliance America.

Those signing the letter were Senators Thune, Durbin, Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Gary Peters (D-MI), Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Tina Smith (D-MN).

2023 crop enrollment now available
Producers can now change election and enrollment in the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs for the 2023 crop year. The deadline for signup is March 15, 2023. 

Zach Ducheneaux, Farm Service Agency Administrator, said, "It's that time of year for producers to consider all of their risk management options, including safety-net coverage elections through Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage. We recognize that market prices have generally been very good, but if the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, frequent catastrophic weather events and the Ukraine war have taught us anything, it's that we must prepare for the unexpected. It's through programs like ARC and PLC that FSA can provide producers the economic support and security they need to manage market volatility and disasters."

The ARC and PLC programs were authorized in the 2014 farm bill and reauthorized in the 2018 farm bill. Producers have received over $34.9 billion from these programs.

NAMI officers
The North American Meat Institute has elected its officers for 2023. They are:

NAMI is the oldest and largest trade association representing packers and processors.

Source: P. Scott Shearer, who is solely responsible for the information provided, and wholly owns the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset. The opinions of this writer are not necessarily those of Farm Progress/Informa.